Quote Originally Posted by Jessika
How would you recommend conditioning her to being used to being in it?? I don't want to ONLY put her in it when I leave because that will teach her that when she goes in, I leave. Should I put her in periodically during the day while I'm home too? Should I cover it? Leave it uncovered? Leave a TV/radio on?

When I am home and she is inside, should I tell her "NO" for barking/whining or ignore completely?

Yes, putting her in there for a few minutes at a time when you are home should help, so will feeding her in it. ALWAYS make it a happy safe place.

I wouldn't really cover it unless she starts barking a lot and only leave it covered if it actually helps with the barking. And I;d only leave a radio/tv on if you are FOR sure that it won't go into static noise or have any other problems that may irritate your dog. If you do decide to leave it on then leave it on a very low volume level.

As far as telling her no or ignoring her, I guess you could do it either way. Personally at first I would try to ignore her. Because if you tell her no & she listens to you, but then she barks when you are not there, no one tells her no she may think it is ok to bark and bark and bark and bark. Of course if she is barking a LOT you may need to resort to the NO.